Steve Herschbach

Saw this at Bill's forum and liked it - good photos and details showing how getting gold seems like only a small part of things sometimes. http://www.ssdsupply.com/alaska_2015.htm

Great finds - congratulations! I have set the photo limits very large on the forum, which basically means if you upload a big photo a big photo is what we see! I have had a couple comments though so I may back it off a bit.

New for 2016! Waterproof Headphones with Hybrid design blending ProStar housing and Piezo Waterproof speakers. Fits MX Sport Connector.

All detector weights on my website are usually with batteries as I rarely use detectors without batteries in them. So, here we go, waterproof headphones for MX Sport, List $149.95 internet pricing $139.95 Looks a lot like my DetectorPro waterproof phones for my ATX and CTX. There is a volume control - nice touch. If they are branded phones from DetectorPro hopefully they sorted out the problem with volume being too low.

Hey John. No, MXT is 4.3 lbs with batteries, and they have been quoting 4 lbs on MXS - the assumption was with batteries, and so in theory 0.3 lb lighter. If White's changed the rules and that is weight without batteries, as does appear to be the case, then one slight (0.3 lb) advantage on the MXS just went up in smoke and in fact it sounds like MXS may be slightly heavier than the MXT. The Minelab E-TRAC/CTX coils prove that just because a coil can be submerged and not float is not reason for it to weigh a lot. There is this idea they either have to float like a cork or be heavy and that is a false choice. I still maintain anyone wants a dry land machine should just get an MXT so I don't much care about that part. White's is not competing with White's despite rumors to the contrary. What matters more is AT Pro/AT Gold at 3 lbs and MXS at 4.4 lbs.

The Pershing County Proposal will be discussed at the County Commissioners meeting on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, at about 1:30 PM. You can learn more about it at the following link: http://pershingcounty.net/index.php/Commissioners/board-of-commissioners.html The location of the meeting is at: Pershing County Courthouse, 400 Main St., Comm. Mtg. Rm., Lovelock, NV Contact : Karen Wesner 775-273-2342

As regard floating and non-floating coils that issue has been solved for many years by manufacturers. There simply is no reason for big fat foam filled coils anymore - they are a relic from days gone by. So Kenny, you saying the MX Sport weighs more than 4 lbs with batteries? White's has always included battery weight in quoted weights in the past and if they are not doing so now that is news. So what does the MX Sport weigh with batteries etc. as shipped?

Supposedly there is a waterproof headphone set available, they are just secret. No real response so far on the White's forum on the question posed two days ago... http://forums.whiteselectronics.com/showthread.php?75424-MX-Sport-Waterproof-HeadPhones Steve Howard of White's posted on the same forum that "The first two accessory search coils do reduce overall weight nearly 1 lbs, however, they do float." "Wow, a pound lighter" I thought! I had visions of putting one of the accessory coils on and having a machine at just over three pounds. That would have had to mean that stock coil is one heavy monster though. Your 4 ounce difference between stock coil and 950 means they did a good job keeping the weight of the 10" coil reasonable but that it is only going to shave 4 ounces going to the 950. The Eclipse 10" x 6" DD weighs in right at a pound (16 oz) less cable weight so there you go. The 10 x 6 was going to be my go to coil on the MX Sport but it is only going to shave a couple ounces at best.

Yeah comparing different machines or vastly different coils is really not what the main question is on this thread. It really boils down to this old round 14" mono made by one guy versus the newer 14" mono made by another guy. And then the latest 14" mono made with the new wire. And then the even newer 14" mono made with the new wire but twisted another way. I look at them all and frankly, they are all just 14" mono coils to me. If I want different performance I get a bigger coil or a smaller coil or a DD coil. What I generally do not do is buy into the idea of there being much difference between what are basically the same coil. When it gets down to that I just look for which one is the lightest yet at the same time the toughest, and at the best price. Any magic pixie dust has to be free of charge. Maybe not right in the details, just how I look at it.

No, not just you. I was a dealer for Compass, Fisher, Garrett, Minelab, Tesoro, and White's. For decades. Except for tiny bursts overall dealer out reach and training is near non-existent. Part of the problem is people working at the factories know little about metal detecting. Their expert dealers know far more than the factory people. However, expert dealers are a rare minority. Many dealers are pretty uninformed about the product they sell. There are few if any requirements for being a dealer for anyone and there is little help available for dealers that want to do better unless they practically beg for it. It really is not just White's. All you get as a dealer from most manufacturers is a new price list once a year, and maybe a notice now and then about something new. Or not. Very haphazard, very amateur as an industry. At the same time I was a dealer for Evinrude, Ski-Doo, Honda, etc. some heavy hitting big boys. Much bigger companies of course, but the differences were stark, and detector companies by and large should be embarrassed by their overall lack of professionalism as regards their dealer networks and how they handle them. Maybe they can't be as big as a Honda but they could sure better strive to emulate to style and processes of companies like that. Anyway, my experience as a dealer was that I almost always knew more than any factory people about not only about metal detecting itself but what was going on in the industry, what their competiton was up to, you name it. In general as an expert dealer I thought manufacturers were somewhat of an obstacle to be overcome on the road to marketing and selling the very products they make. I have not seen a lot since that would make me change that view.

I am writing something up that may help and will post soon so stand by. The short answer for me personally I have chosen to go 56 kHz Gold Racer for gold nuggets and jewelry, and 14 kHz Racer 2 for jewelry and coins. If I was trying to replace both with one detector, it would be the 19 kHz FORS Relic to do it all.

Well seriously, the factory should have part numbers and pricing on the website by now. Consumers should not have to be squeaky wheels. Trying to extract timely information from White's website is such a waste of time most people look to forums like this for information. Again, not a White's problem, an industry problem.

Welcome to the forum, and congrats on the coin! Yours is in decent shape. I remember when they were all that way, but then again I used to pick them out of change all the time. Now it is getting hard to read the dates on Wheaties when I find them, time and fertilizer taking its toll.

It is a draft bill - from http://cgpgold.org/protect-exploration-access-in-pershing-county/ "If you have information about current or planned exploration or mining activities that relate to the draft bill, please share your knowledge with your senators by Friday, March 18. You can send your comments to: Jeremy Harrell in Senator Dean Heller’s office at: Jeremy_harrell@heller.senate.gov and Sara Moffat in Senator Harry Reid’s office at: sara_moffat@reid.senate.gov As always, keep your comments respectful, factual and calm."

Lots of people have been posting about not liking the audio. Maybe people that have not used lots of White's detectors? The MX Sport more like a DFX or V3i (and I assume MX5) than MXT but nothing that White's has not made for many years. Some people will think that bad and some good - whatever. I have nothing against pure digital tones myself. I run my DFX in full tones mode and may very well do the same with the MX Sport.

Hi Don, No, I have loaded myself up with too many machines already at this point. I have chosen to go 56 kHz Gold Racer for gold nuggets and jewelry, and 14 kHz Racer 2 for jewelry and coins. If I was trying to replace both with one detector, it would be the 19 kHz FORS Relic to do it all.

Tin (actually sheet steel) is a real pain for sure, just like bottle caps which are a similar target. Of the machines I have used the CTX 3030 sticks in my mind as having handled it the best. On machines that offer them concentric coils can help.

I have not done anything formal yet but you can just attach an mp3 or mp4 file as an attachment in a message as John has done here I will get a video section done soon so this is more an interim step. Upload limit I think is 25MB so if you have huge files still need to use YouTube

They would rather you download a pdf - printing and mailing costs a fortune just to get tossed in the trash. I get emailed notifications that the latest issue is available for download - you can sign up here

I don't mind the headphones being optional since at $150 a lot of people will not need them. But at this point it is not even an option, just a promise, and not even a date. It is like there is a penalty for being an early buyer. Half the time you get a machine that may need some sort of fix or upgrade later. You can't get needed accessories. And no deals for being first at the plate - if anything you pay more for the privilege of either being a loyal customer or guinea pig, depending how you look at it. Not only should underwater phones be available now, but a nice touch would be an introductory discount for those that get them at the time they buy their detector.

Here is the latest copy of the Garrett Searcher - basically a compilation of recent finds by Garrett users. It is always interesting to see all the amazing stuff from all over the world being found with metal detectors. I would encourage everyone to look at it and pay attention to the number of great finds made with the Garrett Ace 250. This is a nice little detector sold for $212 and considered a low end moderate performer. Yet many fabulous finds are made with it, including even a gold nugget now and then. There is an extremely important lesson here and one that drives my basic philosophy of detecting. There is of course a focus on high performance detectors, but I very much believe it is all about the operator. It is about putting yourself on good ground and mostly about lots of hours. Even relatively inexpensive detectors with moderate performance can deliver tremendous results in the right hands. To have fun and enjoy success in metal detecting does not require a top end detector or a huge outlay of money. People are making finds every day that prove that. Food for thought. Here are a few nugget hunting excerpts:

So White's releases a detector and perhaps its number one selling point is it is submersible - if you get the optional waterproof headphones. Too bad there are no waterproof headphones to buy yet. As far as I know dealers also do not have accessory coils available. Manufacturers (not just White's) put as many roadblocks in the way of dealers and customers as possible. New machine comes out, customer hot to buy, credit card in hand - when is the best time to have a full range of accessories available? Yes, at time of purchase. Not a week later, or a month later, or whatever. As a dealer and a salesperson this always drove me berserk. Just bad business, period. It does not make me any happier as a customer either. It inconvieniences me and that should not be what a company is striving for. Again, not picking just on White's here. Minelab has been terribly guilty in this department. Other guys, not so much. I am picking up my MX Sport next week but looks like that is all I will be getting.

You know, most of the issue for me is the ground, and the fact it is so bad. It levels the VLF playing field. My theory is in mild ground you see bigger differences between machines. Bad ground compresses everything and the differences shrink. As long as you are talking top-of-the-line machines the performance differences are hair splitting stuff. If you spend long hours cross checking found targets it is just now and then one machine might have a tiny edge here, but then 30 minutes later the other machine has a tiny edge there. It sort of evens out. And though I should not really say this, if you spend most of your time like I do running a PI or a GPZ, all VLFs seem gutless in bad ground. Unless you run them in all metal but then you may as well run a PI. Come on Minelab - add full range disc to the GPZ! Some day......

Which base program? Of course any base can be changed into almost anything but where do you start? As a rank novice with both machines I am pretty much running stock to stock. Racer 2 in three tone, only adjustment bumping Gain from 70 to 85 (out of 99 max), disc (ID Filter) at preset 3. I am not seeking max performance so much as stable performance for learning purposes. Deus I went with GM Power (Program 2) which is in three tones as preset, 18 kHz (Racer 2 at 14 kHz), Gain at preset of 90, reactivity at preset 2, disc at preset 6.8 - all presets. I toyed with maybe using G-MAXX instead, GM Power is more for bad ground, G-MAXX for high conductors (8 kHz) but again, I am in a learning about how both machines act at relatively conservative and similar settings. The only thing I did do is since the ground here is so bad I ground balanced the machine. XP tends to recommend you just leave at 90 but I am not seeing that be a good idea in this soil. I really am more a wide open full tones guy so honestly in the long run will end up using your settings Ray but again, not really trying to prove much here, just getting the feel of both machines. I was not really even looking for anything, and went after weird targets just to see what they were. I actually have as much fun doing this as most anything else metal detecting. I am fascinated by the responses and working the target and trying to guess what I am going to dig. I am always amazed at how this ground just kills the performance of all VLF detectors I run here. The bottom line is these are two really terrific metal detectors and I am just a fortunate guy to be able to do what I am doing. I will pick up the MX Sport next week and have a new CTX on the way so all four can play together over an extended period of time. I am not looking for winners or losers I am just going to try and learn all I can about all four and figure out how to best make each one shine. Life is good!